The Beastmaster
by akraccess
Summary: A man walks among the night as one with his pack. Who is he and how is he going to affect Eragon and his journey? Find out for there are secrets that need to be revealed. OC x OC. Eragon X Arya
1. Prologue Pt 1

**Writer's Notes: My first fanfic so don't hate. Please review and send ideas or suggestions. Starting t but may get m. Will notify when such happens. Also, may be a little hard at updating since college and work together don't allow much time.**

A strange man stood in the mountains, far from the town below in the valley. Fall was beginning to set, the color of the trees turning from their normal earthly green to their heavenly shades of yellow, orange and gorgeous scarlet. The wind whistled through the land, causing the sea of trees to swing in the afternoon sun. It also caused others to run to the nearest shelter for that meant a cold night was to meet them that night. The man, however did not care. He had grown used to the cold since he was young. He was a young man, barely past the age of manhood, going on his 21st birth year. He was a fairly handsome man, with short black hair in the front but then it flowed to reach the middle of his neck behind him. His face stood quite fair, slightly reminding one of an elf but it still contained the rugged features of man. He was very clean shaven, except a slight stubble on his chin. His body was more lean and thin compared to the thicker and burlier men who lived in the village but he had quite some strength on his side. He was still able to best almost any man in a feat of strength. His torso was fairly tall and his shoulders stood broad, combining that with the long legs he had made him usually a head taller than most men. What seemed unhuman about him was the eyes that he had. They were a crimson red, the shade of blood freshly spilt on often a man's blade. He was often seen by the town but it had not always been that way.

One winter night, it was said to be one of the worst snowstorms the village had seen in years. No one dared venture too far away that night in fear of getting lost and not being found until the sun came over the Spine, the mountains that surround the small village. One would consider it foolhardy to travel through such weather but not for one who walked through the snow as easily if it was not there at all. He would appear as any normal traveler, wrapped in his heavy cloak and wearing wool pants and thick boots. Underneath the cloak were a dark brown tunic and undershirt made of cloth. He also had a slight cape draping behind him except it looked the same as a dig's fur, the grey of wolves patterned all along it. But this was not the most surprising or confusing detail about this man: he walked with two large wolves at his side. They both stood roughly shoulder height to the man's waist, making them slightly larger than young children. They followed him as if he was one of the pack, almost to some as the leader.

The wolves walked at his side as he saw the torches of his destination, the small village that his vision had told him to travel west to. He mumbled something unintelligible and his two companions gathered onto him, nearly brushing his thighs. The man removed his arms from under his cloak and pet the two companions while he looked off to the side, seeing his other companions traveling through the forests with ease as well. The outlines of more wolves and even large bears were seen going through the woods. The man looked into the woods on the other side of the road and saw a similar effect. He even saw some cougars and other animals of the night walked through the dark. He then began towards the torches, his two wolves following him.

As he neared the edge of the town, the townsfolk notice him and several scurry away. Cautious mothers hurry their children home, hoping to protect them from the man who stood among them. Several of the men simply glare at the man and, as they would often say, "his vermin". A group of men who stood near the door of the butcher shop noticed him and several walked to the front porch, the butcher included. He noticed the odd man walking through the square, humped and spit at his feet. It landed on the man's boot which caused his animal friends to growl and snarl but the man simply continued, unfazed and only focusing on walking towards the local tavern where he hoped to find some information about what he was here for. The wolves continued to snarl but then trotted forward to stay with the man. Several of the men began to follow him but the butcher simply left him alone and returned to his shop.

The man found his destination maybe a few minutes later of wandering through the town, evident by the laughter and yelling that emitted from the door. As he neared, one of the men who stood to the side of the door held his arm in front of the stranger and said, his accent thick and rough: "lad, no _pets _allowed inside." The stranger held his hands up in defeat and said: "If the tavern keeper demands it, it shall be." He simply turns to his two companions and gestures for them to wait in the snow near one of the windows to the tavern.

He then enters into the bright light of the torches and the hearth that roared with life which also heated the inside to a degree that one could barely feel the chill of the night. He walked past several men who gave him weird looks before finding a stool at the bar. The tavern owner came to him and spoke: "What will you have, stranger?" The stranger finally spoke, his voice sound slightly gruff: "a simple ale, no room." "What, will you sleep on the floor of the bar? Not in my tavern." "Do not worry, for I shall stay with my companions in the snow." That last sentence caused almost everyone to stop and look at the man with a sense of confusion. The stranger spoke again, louder so the rest can hear him: "Aye, you heard me right. I will live with my companions in the woods. Now, give me my ale, man or I will get straight to the business that I have here."

One man shouts: "Who are you, stranger?" the man huffs before standing and removing his hood from his cloak, while saying: "I go by several names." He turns to the majority of the crowd so they can see his face and most of all, his blood red eyes. Most step back in fear that he is a shade, at which the man continues: "I have been known as 'the nature traveler' or 'the mountain man'. A more common name is 'the Beastmaster' or 'the lord of beasts'." At the mention of these names, the tavern erupts into a crowd of whispers. The stranger calms them by speaking again: "some know my real name but most know the name I have adopted since I began living with my friends: 'Urzeal'."

With that, several men shout and one even pulls a knife from his belt and holds it to strike. That same man says: "And what business do you have hear, Lord of Beasts or shall I say, King of Mongrels?" With that, several men in the tavern burst into laughter. Urzeal, remaining as neutral as when he entered, spoke in return: "I am looking for an Eragon, son of Garrow. I know that he lives nearby." A younger voice then yells out: "What do you want with me?"

Everyone turns and some of the folk part to allow clear view of the young lad, barely reaching his fourteenth year of age, sitting at the edge of the bar with his cousin, Roran and his uncle, Garrow. Urzeal closed his eyes for a moment before refocusing on the young man. He then walks forward but is stopped by Garrow who stood between him and Eragon. Garrow leans forwards and whispers: "We should talk about this at a later time in a safer place." Urzeal replies: "Understood. Look for the golden eagle and follow it."

With that, he turns to leave but is blocked by several of the mean who followed him from the butcher shop. One stands above the rest, saying: "don't that you are leaving this tavern without some bumps and bruises. You are some stranger who walks into town, and expects us to allow you to do as you wish. No, lad, you need to be taught a lesson." Urzeal replies: "do you know what I am called the Beastmaster? It should be obvious, as evident by those two wolves sitting obediently in front of that window." He gestures to a large window where a silhouettes of his companions sitting still in the cold wind. One of the men out front runs in, saying "Everyone, see what is going on outside." Everyone at first is stricken with confusion but then they file out to see what is going on.

They get outside to see a large pack of animals waiting around the tavern. Many more wolves, nearly four dozen of them, two score of bears and several cougars wait and watch in the snow. They never make a growl or snarl but many yawn in waiting for their alpha. Urzeal walks past all the men and women who were in that tavern and walks towards his pack.

His two companions bound towards him and stand at his side once more. Urzeal turns to face everyone and says: "If you need any more proof, here it is." His body then began to shifts rather oddly. His nose, teeth and ears lengthen to match the shape of a snout, a dog's teeth and wolf ears. His clothes seem to melt into his belt while his cape forms the fur that began to crawl all over his skin. His hand and feet match that of the paws found on the several other, yet smaller wolves nearby. He moves to all fours and a large tail sprouts from his backside making him totally complete.

He, still able to speak as normal as a human, says out loud to the town: "Never harm my pack and I shall never harm you. That is all I request." He then rears his head and lets out a bone chilling wolf howl which the rest of the pack joins in, bears roaring and cougars growling. Urzeal then turns and bounds away his pack following him into the night.


	2. Prologue pt 2

**Sorry for the long update. Like i said, work and college don't leave much time. Sorry if writing in some places is not well done. Trying to find a balance between quality and quantity. PLease note that the prologue to events of Eragon will be several chapters in order to establish character development. Other then that, please enjoy. Leave a comment or a review with ideas or notes.**

The townspeople dispersed shortly afterwards and Garrow left with Eragon and Reran. As they approached the farm, Garrow sent the two young men to their rooms. He said that he needed to get something and quickly left for the forest. Eragon entered his room with the thoughts of confusion and most of all fear of what is to come. Questions raced through his mind: 'Who is this man? What does he want with me? Why do I seem so important?' as the night continued, depriving him of the comfort of sleep. His cousin, on the other hand, fell asleep quickly, leaving Eragon alone in the small home while his uncle disappeared for whatever reason unknown to him. He looked out his window and watched the trees as the moonlight illuminated the night. Shortly afterwards, he was able to slow his mind and fall into the comforting embrace of sleep.

Garrow walked for a short time through the forests of the Spine. His mind was clouded with the feeling of grief as he remembered what his sister said, all those years ago: "_There will be a man who will come as the leader of wolves and bears. He will come for my son. Aide him in any way possible. Help him however you can. When he comes, give him this. He will know what it is but do not say who it is from. THAT will be revealed to him in time."_ Garrow finally reached his destination, a small alcove of boulders where he had hidden the object in question. He knew that no one came here so it was safe to hide.

He moved to where he had hidden the item, which rest in a small cave just large enough to hide it completely from sight. Removing the snow and rocks that covered the hiding spot, he reaches in and upon feeling the old wood, pulls out the chest that he was hiding.

As it came into the moonlight, the old chest looked the same as when it first was given to him. It was a simple wooden chest with metal edges and a strong lock sat in the middle of it. Garrow reached under his cloak to a key that he kept on a string around his neck. He wrapped his hand around it, feeling its cold surface, the feel and design of it no different than that night all those years ago. He then bent down, lifted the chest onto his shoulder and hefted it all the way back to his home. Upon arriving, he placed the chest next to the bed where he slept the night away….

Deep in the white covered forest of the Spine, Urzeal and his pack were looking for a place for them all to rest while the storm passed. For roughly an hour they looked until they found a cave deep enough for them to survive the night. It stood roughly twice the height of a man, was wide enough for eight men to walk at once. It also contained an outcrop that help keep out the winds and several large boulders in front allowed for snow to pile outside, forming another wind resistant barrier.

Urzeal instructed his pack to bed for the night and was ready to do so himself, when he heard a loud but high pitch howl. It was not deep enough to even be an older wolf so he concluded that it was a young wolf cub. Instantly at the thought, he left the cave by himself and moved towards the sound. As it grew louder, it began to sound more strained, as if fighting to howl, causing him to quicken his pace.

After several minutes, he spotted a small wolf cub, nearly completely covered in the blowing snow. Upon seeing the larger wolf, the cub barked before collapsing in the snow. Urzeal rushes forward and picks up the little cub by the scruff in its neck and turns to leave. He notices a slight grey and quickly investigates. He moved some snow to discover a small group of wolves that had frozen in the snow. He quickly mourns their loss by a quick whimper before running back with the cub to the cave.

Upon returning, he silently sets the cub down on the floor, seeing that the pack is asleep. Urzeal then shifts into human form and holds the little cub in his arms, pressing him against the cub to give the precious heat that the little one had gone so long without. Feeling only the coldness that emanated from the cub and that it was not moving, Urzeal placed his hand on the cub's stomach, closed his eyes and reached for a power that he rarely used because of fear of its power: the power of the Ancient Language. Reaching for that power, he remembered the words to save the cub: "_nyta minn_ _brisinger við varmr sási barn." _He then felt the drain of the magic take effect as he felt the energy transfer to the cub in the form of heat emanating from the heat in his hand.

The magic only lasted for a minute before Urzeal cut off the energy and held the cub in his lap. He then began to hum as he draped his cape over his front to cover both him and the cub as he fell asleep against the wall…

Urzeal was woken from his slumber when he heard inside his mind: "_Alpha, the rest of the pack is awake. Shall they hunt or shall they wait?_" Urzeal, instantly recognizing the voice as one of the wolves that went with him into town the night before, replies: "_I have told you to call me by name. And the pack may go hunt. Just be sure to bring back some meat for me and the cub." _He then opened his eyes and looked down where the little cub had begun to rise and stretch.

Urzeal quickly looks around to see that the entire pack had deserted him and had gone to hunt. He rose, holding the half-awake cub in his hands and walked to the entrance of the cave. Urzeal then set the pup down and shifted to the wolf form. He picked up the cub in his mouth while he climbed the snow covered boulders to reach the outcropping that hung over the top of the cave, which gave him a clear view of the treetops.

He reaches the outcropping where he lowered the cub and shifted back into his human form. He then sits in the snow with the little cub, which turned out to have fur the same color of the snow. Urzeal then closes his eyes to reach out to his pack, feeling everything they feel, the instinct and thrill of the hint tempting him into joining them but he wanted to take care of the cub first. He then felt the cub move to rest in his lap and laid down with a sad feeling of grief over the loss of its pack.

Urzeal, wishing to comfort the young animal, extended his mind to the cub and felt it unguarded. He did not force himself in, only staying on the edge of its mind to not be scared by the sudden feeling of several minds joined. Over several minutes, he slowly connected with the cub, sending waves of comfort and sharing happy moments with the cub, such as the thrill of the hunt and the pride of killing a big moose for the pack. The cub then looked up at Urzeal, at his dark red eyes and started licking him, showing his affection. This caused a small smile to cross Urzeal's face as he closed his eyes and opened his mind to his pack, seeing everything they did. The hunts that were going on, the wolves crouching through the snow, while several of the cougars moved through the trees, agile as ever. The bears mainly ate little and then slept in the cave once again. Urzeal relished in the feeling as he was truly one with his family…

Eragon woke slowly and late in the day due to the little sleep that he was able to get from the questions that plagued him in the night. As the light of the morning flooded into his room, he stood and entered the main room where his uncle and his cousin were already waiting for him. Reran looked like he was ready to go meet this 'Urzeal', with a look of determination and courage. His uncle, however, was nearly opposite of that. His eyes were downcast and dark bags hung under his eyes, showing that he was regretting that this was happening and wished that it would all go away.

Eragon quickly asked: "when the man asked for me, you acted as if you knew who he was. Who is he then?" Garrow looked at his beloved nephew: "I am unsure. All I know is that he was seen by your mother in a vision and she had prepared something for him." He points to the old chest that now sat on the floor near them. "I don't even know what is inside it. I never opened it because it was only for the Beastmaster. I was told never to open it by Selena, and I am never someone to break promises. I have held this one for nearly fourteen years so I will not break it now. Now, Urzeal told us to wait for the golden eagle. We shall simply wait for that to appear for nor. Just pay it no mind at the moment."

So for the next several weeks, Garrow, Roran and Eragon would live like normal, living out the cold winter. Occasionally they would enter town but when they did, they would be avoided like a disease for rumor spread around, claiming that they were associating with the Empire. Eragon would spend countless nights trying to understand why he was so important but it never came to him. He was not prepared for the shock that he was going to be in when the time came to meet with fate….

Urzeal and his pack stayed in the deep woods away from the town. They lived their life in the wild like they normally would, hunting and gathering what they could to last the long winter. Urzeal had used his great knowledge of magic to form a small space for him in the cave, giving him a desk with a stone that he can feed a little energy and it would glow brightly for hours on end. He sat at the desk many nights, reading through the scrolls that he had received from his masters both in Du Weldenvarden and also Uru'bean for the several years that he was forced to live there.

He read through the scrolls, the words reminding of where he was from and the horrible past that he had been forced to live. He still remember the might where he did not sleep due to the fear and pain that HE instilled in Urzeal. Urzeal often saw flashbacks of times of when he was a younger child and everything that had happened to him from a particular person, the one with many hearts…

He shook his head to banish the memory as he heard a small bark come from his right. He looked to see the small cub that he had rescued. He had grown massively since he was found. The cub was found to be very thin, malnourished bur had a strong fight in him. Now, several months later, he was back to health, now the twice the size of the average wolf at that age. He was pure white as the snow that he was found in. His eyes were a deep, icy blue that could spark either awe or fear into the looker.

Urzeal and his pack were sometimes seen on the outskirts of town, often patrolling as if trying to protect the town. Often times, hunters would be hunting and see these wolves traveling nearby, following the scent of the prey and feeling the thrill of the hunt. It eventually became so common that they started to work together to where the wolves would surround and keep the prey under control while the hunter armed with a bow would sneak through the brush and aim for a perfect shot which would make one fall and if there were other prey, they would become more frightened and try to run but would get taken down by either the wolves or another shot from the archer. The townsfolk were still wary but not frightened.

Once spring came, when the rebirth of the green came, the town became lively. Everyone bustled form place to place, talking with their neighbors and continuing their everyday life. Eragon, Roran and Garrow started to wake every day to begin growing their crops in their fields. As the land grew back to its former self before it fell asleep, the golden eagle finally appeared….

Upon seeing that the snow was melting and that spring was upon them, Urzeal reached deep into his mind, feeling the power that he had used to control his pack even from a long distance away, and he felt his flock waiting in Surda, which contained large groups of eagles, falcons, owls and even finches and ravens. He was searching for one in particular, the golden eagle of the flock whom he had named Ares.

Upon feeling the bird's mind, Urzeal spoke to him: "_It is time, old friend. The boy is aware of the sign and he awaits it. Come, gather the flock and join me in the north._" He hears the great eagle reply: "_Yes, Urzeal. The flock has been waiting for your command and we shall join you in several nights time. We shall fly over the village and announce our arrival."_

"_Good, Ares. We shall make the young man know you are here and come to see me. That is all."_

With that, Urzeal closes off the connection to his flock and opened his mind to the rest of the animals in his pack, which includes the wolves, cougars, bears and now several other small animals such as ferrets and other rodents. He said to them all: "_The flock is on its way. Be prepared to meet our new pack member in a few days' time. Until then, remain on patrol so the Empire does not discover me."_ The pack's members gave a feeling of understanding and acknowledgement. He then reaches out to his "lieutenants", who were two wolves and a bear. He instructs them: "_My brothers, please return to me. I have details that should be secret and given only to a select few."_

The "brothers" acknowledged and began to return to the cave. Urzeal cut off the connection and looked down at the cub that had grown from ill and hungry to strong, fast and nearly the size of a small bear. He was big enough for a medium sized man to ride. Urzeal shifted from the lotus position that he had been sitting in and moved to sit at his desk. He sat there, contemplating what to say until he heard the scampering of feet, two pairs of quiet feet and one set that walked with a heavy thud. He smiled and turned to his brothers.

His brothers were two wolves and a bear that had been with him the whole time. The two wolves were the ones that had accompanied into town that first night, his favorites and his most trusted. They themselves were brothers to each other.

The bigger of the two was named Argon. He stood the heights of a man's waist when standing on all four. He stood like any other wolf with his grey and black fur but his eyes stood out as a bright yellow. He stood with several scars that ran all over his body, showing his age and hardships that he has gone through with his brother and alpha. His biggest scar ran from the side of his face to his chest.

The smaller wolf was named Urgis. He stood slightly bigger than the average wolf, but with solid black fur to allow him to blend into the night. His eyes were a steel gray, his paws were larger and thickly padded, allowing for quieter steps and better scouting when needed.

The bear, who walked with a deep thud whenever he stepped, was the first bear to be welcomed into the pack. His name was Byrom. He stood larger than the average bear, able to dwarf any man that he came in counter with. His fur was a solid brown, showing that he was a grizzly. He was fairly older than the rest of the bears, scars and wounds all along his body. He had one that trailed down his face, causing his left eye to have been blinded.

Once all three of them came close to Urzeal, he spoke to the three of them: "_What I say must never be told to the rest of the pack members, understood?" _They sent him the mental understanding of a nod before he continued: "_As you know, I have been drawn here by a vision. But I never explained what that vision is. Allow me to finally show you." _He then began to show them the vision that he had seen several weeks ago that lead him to this town.

**Ps I need some help with filler, not my strong suite. If you send an idea and i like it, i will make a chapter for it and give an honorable mention.**


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